Another Day in the Family Business
by Rave The Rich
Summary: June thanks Dennis for all of his help in recent months. Part of the 'Four on the Fourth' series of oneshot fics.


Another Day in the Family Business 

This is a 'Life and Times of Juniper Lee' fanfiction, and is a part of the 'Four on the Fourth' one shot project. Dennis, the eldest of the Lee siblings, will often be on hand when Juniper, Ray Ray and Monroe are on a mission. Though he does not possess the magical powers and abilities that his younger siblings do, he serves a great purpose with his knowledge of the magical world. This is rated 'K', and is simply outlines an afternoon of preparation and activity prior to encountering a magical being. There is a slight amount of romance at the end.

DISCLAIMER: The creator of 'The Life and Times of Juniper Lee' is Judd Winick, who you may know as being a participant in Season Three of 'The Real World: San Francisco', and who is also the creator of the comic 'Frumpy the Clown'. The Cartoon Network provided the medium, and Rave the Rich owns nothing and makes nothing from writing this. Please do not flame.

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"So what did you want to show me that Monroe and Ray Ray couldn't see?" This question came from fourteen year old Dennis Lee, older brother of eight year old Ray Ray and the eleven year old Te Xuan Ze Juniper Lee. 

June, as she was often called by friends and family said nothing to the question that her older brother posed. Instead, she gave a big hug to him, which only left Dennis exponentially more confused. June lets go of the hug and said 'Thank you'.

"What was that for, and why are you thanking me? Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm feeling fine silly," says June. "I just... I know I don't do things like that hug often, especially to you, but... over the past couple of months, you've helped us out of some real tight spots. And, to be honest, the hug is the least that I could do for you."

"Gee. Thanks" Dennis says.

"You've got a great responsibility on your hands. Who would have thought that your live action role playing would end up saving our rear ends on more than one occasion. Maybe I should be a part of one of your sessions. I could learn a thing or two."

"Tell me more, June" Dennis says while goofily grinning.

"Don't push it, Dennis" June affirms. "Remember though, nobody can know that you're helping us under the table, especially Ah-mah. I couldn't tell you what she'd do if she knew that we had this agreement."

"I'll give you a hint," Dennis says above a whisper. "It involves the words 'flip', 'her' and 'lid'." This is enough to get June to break down in a laugh.

"But seriously, although I owe the L.A.R.P.ers a debt of gratitude for what they do, they just can't know" June tells Dennis. "You know now. It's like the Men In Black theory. It's just best that the people around us don't know that these creatures actually exist, so they don't have to worry about them and the control of them can be kept by us; the experts."

"Yeah" Dennis agrees. "Heaven and Jasmine 'Ah-Mah' Lee forbid that the brain trust of the federal government were to ever find out about the magical hub that is Orchid Bay. If you think the country is in shambles now, well... imagine a U.S. Senate with Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and they're all mixed in with... Steven the Sandman, Loki, and Paradas demons. Oh! Oh, here's one! A Supreme Court with John Roberts and right next to him is not Harriet Miers or Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, but... Auntie Roon!"

"I don't want to, thank you very much," June says matter-of-factly, and trying not to cringe.

"But... you know this better than I know this, but I've figured it out after some time. This is an unforgiving and ruthless business." June nods to this statement. "There's no pay, no benefits, no guarantee that you, Monroe and Ray Ray will come back home after even the simplest of missions. But there is also something else that I figured out; despite all of the monsters, ghosts and magical beings that are out there, over the last several hundred years, this... grand secret of the family, our skeleton in the closet if you will has defined our family, even though no one outside of the magical beings are supposed to know about it."

Dennis continues, "This is the epitome of a family business, and based on the story that you told me, I don't think it was a mistake that I got an immunity to the goblin dust that was to erase my memory some time ago. Even though I'm about as magical as 25 sacks of pure Nebraskan cow manure, knowledge is my magic. Comic books, spell books, graphic novels, and the history of Live Action Role Playing; there's my magic. There's my power."

"And..." June admits, "we're all finding out very quickly over these last few weeks that it is a very necessary power to have. It's as if we all-- and I'm talking about you, Ray Ray and I, we all bring to the table our own different qualities and quirks, and much like a family, we come together and we all seem to make it work. I am Juniper Kim Lee, the Te Xuan Ze, the Chosen One and the Great Protector and moderator, who assures that the balance between the two worlds remains a healthy one."

"You're Dennis Caleb Lee, and you bring to the table a wealth of what many percieve as downright useless knowledge, but for those that know better, you are our unofficial researcher and bookkeeper of information of many of the magical beings out there that I don't even know exist. Monroe was right; you, for now, have a greater understanding of the many different creatures out there from your years of video games, comic book conventions and L.A.R.P., and it does serve a great purpose, but as I grow and mature, I will also learn."

"And then there's Ray Ray. Ray Ray..."

"Stop," Dennis interjects.

"What? What's wrong? He's in on this as much as I am" June defends.

"Say his full name" Dennis simply says.

"What the... say his full name?"

"You heard me," Dennis confirms.

Juniper sighs, and goes outside of her room for a moment to check the area and make sure that Ray Ray or any other family member is nowhere to be found. Once she knows Ray Ray is out of ear range, she reneges to her older brother's request.\

"Umm... Marion Sean Raimundo Lee, I swear, I'll never understand how mom and dad came up with that. Ray Ray... Ah-Mah has always alluded to Ray Ray having... not yet come into his full powers. Now don't ask me to tell you what that means, cause that could take some time, but... he's Ray Ray. There's just no other way to put it." Dennis laughs.

"Our family. Our family business. They both seem to just go hand in hand."

"You know, Dennis?" Juniper ponders. "You're right."

Dennis gasps and then he cups his left ear and moves closer to his sister. "I'm sorry. I'm a tad deaf in this ear. What was that you just said?"

Juniper is not amused at her older brother's sarcasm, and not long after his action, she proceeds to hit him multiple times with a pillow.

"You know what I said, dweeb, and I meant every word of it; you're..."

Before June could reiterate her sentence, something interrupted them. Penetrating the airwaves between both Juniper and Dennis was a sound; a whirring sound of sorts that signified that a magical being of some sort had been interfering with the normal balance between the real world and the magical world. This sound and numerous accompanying flashes are coming from a bracelet on June's right wrist.

"Activity" June simply says. "It doesn't appear to be anything serious. In fact, I don't even think I'll need anyone else to come along with me to do this."

"But what is it?"

"It's the annual Goblins versus Gnomes soccer match up, and it seems as if they forgot an important element in any sport" she says while going into her walk-in closet.

"What important element is that?" Dennis says with a peaked amount of curiosity.

After about 30-40 seconds, June returns from her closet. She is not wearing her regular garb, however. She has on a black and white striped shirt, a pair of black nylon shorts with a white stripe on each side of her thigh, sunglasses on top of her head, and a whistle around her neck.

"They don't have a referee... until I get there. Usually, they'd hire some neutral Zombie, but apparently, today is a holiday for that race." June then puts the sunglasses over her brown eyes. "Just tell mom and dad I'll be out in the park for a few hours with my friends."

"Wait a minute!" Dennis yells before Juniper can leave her bedroom. "Write them a note. Ray Ray is at a doctor's appointment, and Monroe is spending the week with Ah-Mah. And... I'm kinda curious; how the heck do gnomes play soccer with goblins?"

"Well..." June thinks, "grab an amulet and find out for yourself!" June ends this with a smile.

"Okay!" Dennis says with enthusiasm. "You go ahead, and I'll write the note. I shouldn't be long."

"Well, all right, then! Time to tend to another day in the family business. This time, I save a soccer game, but tomorrow, I may be saving the world."

"Fate of the Te xuan Ze, sis." Dennis postscripts.

"Darn right," June agrees. "See ya." June then finally leaves her room.

Dennis goes over to June's closet and finds the box of desire. It contains three amulets that allow the wearer of the charm to see beyond the veil. Dennis picks one up, but before he does, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a picture. He then says to the wallet sized photo, "even though June says you or anyone else can't know, I want to tell you of this fun and exciting world one of these days. Let luck be a lady." Dennis then gives a quick kiss to the photo, which is of one of Juniper's friends, Jody Irwin. He puts it back into his wallet, puts the amulet on, writes the note, and runs out of the room and the house, catching up with June after about four minutes.

The match was on, and Dennis couldn't wait.

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A/N: For all of the 'Juniper Lee' fans, read and review! Let your voice be heard, and tell me what you think! 


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